Spotify Files Complaint Against Apple With EU Regulators

Spotify's CEO says​ Apple "deliberately disadvantage[s] other app developers" with the way it runs the App Store.

Advertisement

Spotify Files Complaint Against Apple With EU Regulators

Spotify has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission's antitrust regulators, accusing the company of giving itself an unfair advantage over rivals.

Spotify's founder and CEO Daniel Ek said in a blog post Wednesday that Apple "deliberately disadvantage[s] other app developers" with the way it runs the App Store.

Ek says Spotify and other companies have to pay a 30 percent tax on purchases made through Apple's payment system.

He also says that forced Spotify to raise the price of its premium subscription service, making it more expensive than Apple's own music streaming service.

But when Spotify decided not to use that payment system, Ek says Apple hit its app with "a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions." These included limiting communication with customers, blocking upgrades, "locking Spotify ... out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod, and Apple Watch," and pulling its premium service from the App Store.

Ek says the practice is discriminatory and limits consumer choice, and that all apps should "be subject to the same fair set of rules and restrictions." U.S. Sen.

Elizabeth Warren agreed with Spotify's complaints , saying it's "just the latest example of what can happen when these enormous companies abuse their power to undermine competition." Last week, Warren proposed breaking up tech giants if she were to win the presidency, including separating Apple from the App Store.